Westcombe Park came up short away to league leaders Bury St Edmunds as they went down to a 27-14 defeat.

It did not help that the visitors conceded two soft tries in the first ten minutes with Tim Mann and Chris Snelling both going over for the home team, each effort converted by Tom Bird.

But for the rest of the half it seemed to be all Combe, even if points were hard to come by.

Their only reward was a penalty try, converted by Paul Humphries, on the stroke of half-time.

It stayed locked at 14-7 going into the last quarter when Bury’s Tom Bird knocked over a penalty.

Winger Ollie Watson squeezed in at the corner and Mann went over again for the home side.

But the Orpington side were not finished and had the last say when Ben Hough crossed by the posts.

Humphries converted to give the final score a fairer reflection of all Combe’s efforts.